Olympics

I STARTED work on this column during the winter Olympics in Milan. Athletes on skates, skis, and bobsleds compete for medals and fame this month, and the Italian city looks glorious. The Games come at a time when there is conflict and suffering around the world, still the athletes strive, stretching their muscles, working hard to prove their skills.

I’m grateful for the Olympic break from world news that is so stressful, here and in Iran, Gaza, Venezuela and Ukraine. The world’s seas are rising, wilderness is depleted, countries failing. It’s as if death is watching us crumble. Still, the Olympic athletes inspire something in me. Maybe it’s hope that there’s more to life than guns, starving children and scandalous reports about Epstein and friends. The athletes stand straight and strong. They march in the opening ceremonies carrying their country’s flags as if home matters. Like a pageant of theatrical significance, the parade happened and the competition unfolded.

I’ve always been the bookish type. I read while others train. I remember reading The New Yorker once during a competition on the field. (It may have been a horse race.) All around me fans were shouting, drinking and laughing while I missed the event entirely. Now I know there can be beauty in the race, because I’ve seen it in the Olympics. I can set aside my book and admire a stellar performance.

The Olympic athletes bring us their finest efforts, lifting us out of the ordinary. Their feats raise my spirits, and it’s a joy, during world news of murderous attacks, to see something beautiful. It isn’t the competition between countries that moves me, it’s the courage, the skill, the beauty of perfection in the athletes that’s so exciting. I love to see the eagerness in their eyes as they spot the curling stone, or head off from the hilltop on their skis. When they twirl on their skates to heights unimaginable, and land smiling, I think the audience is lifted too, away from the mundane, conventional ways our lives turn. (Could that be why people love football? It never occurred to me what competition means to spectators.)

We need the Olympics now. In those brave competitors I find no hate for the opposition, only a fierce desire to come out ahead. Those Olympians take us away from the fighting of wars, the battles between right and left, our personal pain. Instead the competitions highlight people displaying perfection because they love the sport. I am touched by the dedication to their teams, their commitment to an activity they love. When one falls, as did our champion figure skater, everyone worldwide seems to agonize for him.

Loss of first place, however, is part of the game, and losing is a test of integrity. I’ve a cousin who failed to make the Olympic volleyball team years ago. A retired teacher now, she still remembers when she was a brave competitor. (I have trouble picturing my rather frumpy cousin in those skimpy volleyball outfits.)

I’ll not forget the scene when Marlon Brando says, “I coulda been a contender” in On the Waterfront. He expresses the deep sorrow of a failed athlete, of one who must face the end of triumphs. We’ve failed, too, at school, on the field, in the pool, at auditions, and in love. It matters that we face our defeats with the dignity of champions.

We can’t live very long without knowing we’re not the best. We look around and see folks who create exciting wonders, like symphonic music or beautiful structures. They are smarter at difficult mathematical problems and solving engineering challenges. They are more attractive, stronger, more talented than seems possible. I can hear my mother telling me to accept and appreciate who I am despite my inabilities. (I never could learn to roller-skate.) Mothers are supposed to do that.

How can our American Olympic hopefuls stay the course in the name of the US when we have such discouraging leadership in our country? We’ve elected leaders who betray their promises to uphold our Constitution. Homes are invaded; people are arrested without warrants; historical truth is undermined; laws are flouted, and protections are gone for ulnerable people. Did the German population cheer their athletes at the Olympics as their leaders ordered armies to kill whole populations? A horrible thought, but a challenge to our patriotism.

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